Trees from above

Edson

does anyone know where I can find good images of trees from above (not top views) to use in aerial views? preferably free.

Pixero

I think you could come a long way with Google image search "aerial trees" then clone them in with Photoshop or Gimp.
Make a brush in the shape of a tree from above and clone from a dense photo of a forest seen from above.
If you want single aerial trees maybe some 3d trees from above?

Edson

@pixero said:

I think you could come a long way with Google image search "aerial trees" then clone them in with Photoshop or Gimp.
Make a brush in the shape of a tree from above and clone from a dense photo of a forest seen from above.
If you want single aerial trees maybe some 3d trees from above?

thanks, jan. good tip. I will have a look at how brushes work in photoshop.

shura

@pixero said:

If you want single aerial trees maybe some 3d trees from above?

I think this is a good idea as well if you need single trees.
Just downloaded the xFrog trees Gaieus recommended here.
http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=34516

Gave it a whirl with Podim V2 (recently upgraded, didn't test much) because it renders alpha transparency to PNG.
Only a test without sun or materials.

Could it be that what you are after Edson? Like this you could tweak view angle and sunlight as you need it.

ItalianAcer 2011-02-01 12322100000.png

Rhus Typhina 2011-02-01 11084400000.png

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Gaieus

These are cool, Shure, IMO. Even such a "half above" tree can be made Face-me so for stills it should do the trick.

Edson; just experiment a bit on what exact angle you need (and apply some decent shadow casting, dummy component inside)

Edson

thanks, alexander and csaba.

I am not being able to import the xfrog trees into SU8. it crashes every time. is there any thing one must do in preparation for the import?

shura

Are you trying to import OBJ? For me it didn't work, but with 3DS import it was hassle-free in SU 7.
(hm, now I am not shure if I checked import options for OBJ...)

Then use Frontface To Backface Thomthom's in UV-Toolkit to get the leaves texture on the backfaces.
I also smoothed trunk and branches and hid the edges of the leaves.

Edson

@shura said:

Are you trying to import OBJ? For me it didn't work, but with 3DS import it was hassle-free in SU 7.
(hm, now I am not shure if I checked import options for OBJ...)

Then use Frontface To Backface Thomthom's in UV-Toolkit to get the leaves texture on the backfaces.
I also smoothed trunk and branches and hid the edges of the leaves.

3ds. it seemed to import it fast but SU crashed.

shura

Now OBJ import works, but it takes ages.... still running

Edit: after 2.5 hours no more progress at "processing line 205446 of 299348"

Gareth

Edson.....they are indeed quite heavy files....i found that it is wise to have absolutely nothing else running while you import a .obj file....and don't even minimise your window while it is working....

.....just wander off for a little while, have a coffee or whatever and let it do its work...!